Christ has risen indeed. Happy and a glorious Easter.

LORD JESUS, I BELIEVE. INCREASE IN ME FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE.

Sunday April 17, 2022, EASTER SUNDAY. The Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

When Peter and John entered the empty tomb, they saw what gave them a pause and serious matter for reflection. Jesus was not in the tomb. But the burial clothes were neatly arranged as if the person simply slipped through the clothes without disturbing them in any way. John observed this and concluded that there could be only one explanation: Jesus has risen from the dead.

This incident explains why Jesus forecast His passion and death and none of the disciples remembered it.  "They did not yet understand the scripture that he had to rise from the dead." (John 20: 9). Nothing like the Resurrection of a dead person had ever happened before. There is no historical precedence in the Scriptures.

With the reality of the Resurrection, we can heed the Scriptures when it tells us to:

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland." (Isaiah 43: 18 - 20).

Have you observed anything that make you believe that Jesus is risen and alive?  There are two incontrovertible reasons to believe in the Resurrection of Jesus:
#1. The existence of the Church.
#2. The self-sacrificing work of missionaries all over the world for 2000 years.

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

HOLY SATURDAY AT THE EASTER VIGIL. JESUS CHRIST IS RISEN INDEED.

THE WOMEN GAVE THE NEWS OF THE RESURRECTION TO THE APOSTLES BUT THEY DID NOT BELIEVE THEM. 

“Why do you seek the living one among the dead? He is not here, but he has been raised. Remember what he said to you while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners and be crucified, and rise on the third day.” And they remembered his words. Then they returned from the tomb and announced all these things to the eleven and to all the others. The women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; the others who accompanied them also told this to the apostles, but their story seemed like nonsense and they did not believe them." (Luke 24: 1 - 12).

Saturday April 16th, Holy Saturday at the Easter Vigil in the Holy Night of Easter. 

My brothers and sisters, we celebrate tonight the Great Easter Vigil. The Church allover the world will be trembling with excitement and joy when the great Easter Proclamation (Exsultet) rings out. I want to offer for our reflection some key truths from the Easter Proclamation:

#1 "This is our Passover feast, when Christ, the true lamb is slain, whose blood consecrates the homes of all believers."

#2 "What good would life have been to us if Christ had not come as our Redeemer?"

#3 "The power of this holy night dispels all evil, washes guilt away, restores lost innocence, brings mourners joy; it casts out hatred, brings us peace and humbles earthly pride."

#4 "Therefore heavenly Father, in the joy of this night, receive our evening sacrifice of praise, your Church's offering."

#5 "May the Morning Star which never sets find this flame still burning:

Christ, that Morning Star, who came back from the dead, and shed his peaceful light on all mankind, your Son who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen."

This is our Passover Feast.

“God raised up Jesus, freeing him from the pains of death” (Acts 2:24).

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com 

Good Friday of the Passion of the Lord.

JESUS CHRIST WAS WOUNDED FOR OUR SINS.

“Look, I am bringing him out to you, so that you may know that I find no guilt in him.”
So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple cloak. And Pilate said to them,
“Behold, the man!”
When the chief priests and the guards saw him they cried out,
“Crucify him, crucify him!”
Pilate said to them,
“Take him yourselves and crucify him. I find no guilt in him.” (The Passion of the Lord according to St John).

Friday 15th April 2022, Good Friday of the Lord's Passion.

The Jewish leaders see the death of Jesus on the Cross as the execution of a criminal.  “If he were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.”

"But he was pierced for our sins,
crushed for our iniquity.
He bore the punishment that makes us whole, by his wounds we were healed." (Isaiah 52: 5).

How do you see the death of Jesus on the Cross?
"It is love "to the end" that confers on Christ's sacrifice its value as redemption and reparation, as atonement and satisfaction. He knew and loved us all when he offered his life. Now "the love of Christ controls us, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died." (CCC 616).

We adore You O Christ and worship You because of Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

Holy Thursday, the Beginning of the Easter Celebrations.

YOU WILL NEVER WASH MY DIRTY FEET. NO WASHING YOUR FEET, NO INHERITANCE WITH ME.

"If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet.  I have given you a model [example] to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do." (John 13: 14 - 15).

Thursday 14th April 2022, Holy Thursday, Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper.

Jesus gives us a new commandment this evening:  "Love one another as I have loved you." (John 13: 34). This new commandment is now enfleshed in an unforgettable Example. Consider for a moment the power of example, testimony and biography. The three which are synonymous are unparalleled way of teaching. It works for kids. It works for their parents.

Today is Holy Thursday.  According to ancient tradition, the Church celebrates this evening the Mass of the Last Supper.  When Jesus celebrated the first Mass at the Last Supper, the Apostles did not understand what He was doing.  The narrative of today's Gospel is dominated by the event of the washing of the feet of the apostles, an event so significant that it was incorporated into the Holy Thursday liturgy from ancient times.  What does this event mean for us?

Jesus the Lord and Teacher of the Apostles just washed the dirty feet of the astounded Apostles and then called it an example.

Whose feet will you prefer to wash?
"If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet.  I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do."  (John 13: 14 - 15).

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

This is the Hour. The appointed time is here.

LOVE CARES MORE FOR OTHERS THAN FOR SELF.

"One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver, and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over....

"When it was evening, he reclined at table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, “Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” Deeply distressed at this, they began to say to him one after another, “Surely it is not I, Lord?” He said in reply, “He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me is the one who will betray me. The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born.” Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?” He answered, “You have said so.” (Matthew 26: 14.... 25).

Wednesday 13th April 2022, in Holy Week.

Towards the end of His life, Jesus reveals more and more the testimony of Sacred Scripture about the gathering storm of His passion and death.

About Judas, he said, "The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed." (Matthew 26: 24).

Jesus ministry is framed around "appointed time," "fullness of time." There may be a number of reasons why Jesus at this time wants to anchor His disciples on the testimony of Scripture about Him and His mission.

#1. His death would shatter whatever faith the disciples had in Him. It therefore became necessary that they learn that He is the Lord of history and knew everything that would happen in His passion.
#2. The disciples would see too that He entered His passion and death freely of His own accord. He was not trapped in Gethsemane and arrested as a helpless fugitive from justice.

Paul wrote that Christ died and rose from the dead according to the Scriptures, that is, according to the plan of God predicted in the Scriptures.

As we approach the Easter Triduum, our faith in Jesus as both God who knows the past and future and as Man who manifested fear in Gethsemane of His suffering should grow.

"The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." (Revelation 19: 10). Jesus testifies that Scripture is the word of God and worthy of our veneration and faith. What Scripture prophesies must come true. Scripture prophesies what Jesus did in His public ministry. When you share the testimonies of the miraculous in the work of Jesus in your life, you create a condition for a new miracle. What Jesus has done once, He replicates.

"There are graces destined for My priests in this the night of My agony and of My betrayal that are not given at any other time. I am bound tonight. I have already been taken, and My captors led Me away as a lamb to the Slaughter. I am silent but My Heart watches and waits for My priests. If only they would come to Me, I would undo the bonds that hold them in slavery. I would give them light in the spiritual darknesses that oppress them. I would speak to them words of comfort and of compassion." (IN SINU JESU, Maundy Thursday Night March 20, 2008).

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

Believe Me. One of you will betray Me.

WE NEED ENDURANCE TO PERSEVERE IN DOING GOD'S WILL. THE REWARD IS HUGE.

"Reclining at table with his disciples, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified, “Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”.....

"Simon Peter said to him, “Master, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, though you will follow later.” Peter said to him, “Master, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow before you deny me three times.” (John13:21-33...... 36-38).

Tuesday 12th April 2022 of Holy Week.

Our Gospel of today is the beginning of the Last Supper Discourse. The foreboding events of the next 24 hours weighed heavily on Jesus. Jesus is 100% Man and 100% God. The human part of His nature dreaded the agony in the garden, the brutal interrogations with curses, slaps and spitles. The crowning with thorns and dreadful flagellations. The Crucifixion!

Jesus shares His groomy ruminations with His friends: “Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”

Three of the disciples are mentioned by name:
#1. Judas, the traitor.
#2. The simplistic and over confident Peter.
#3. John the Evangelist simply described as "the one whom Jesus loved."

Why did Judas and Peter betray Jesus? Perhaps the more important question is: Why did Peter repent and Judas did not?
Why do some Christians hear the call to come to Jesus in the Sacrament of Penance and respond and why do others hear and not respond?

Every sin is a betrayal. Every recourse to the Sacrament of Reconciliation is acting like Peter. Every refusal to accept reconciliation and healing is being a Judas.
My friend, do not say your sin is a small one. Christ Jesus died for sin. Not for big sin or small sin. Every big sin starts from a small sin.
Sow a thought and you reap a word. Sow the word and you reap an action or deed. Sow the deeds continuously and you reap a character. Character is destiny.

Judas was treasurer of the group.
"Some thought that since Judas kept the money bag, Jesus had told him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or to give something to the poor."
Judas helped himself little by little from the purse.

The opportunity for last Reconciliation before Easter might be right now. My Parish has the last Call on Good Friday from 12 noon to 3 pm. Help me Lord, I plan to be there.

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

Do not criticize Mary. I approve of what she is doing.

"LORD, YOU HAVE MADE US FOR YOURSELF, AND OUR HEARTS ARE RESTLESS UNTIL THEY REST IN YOU."

"Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair; the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil."  (John 12: 3).

Monday 11th April 2022, Monday of Holy Week.

In six days, it will be the Passover. Jesus visited the home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus, His very good friends. Perhaps to enjoy one last good meal and wine in Martha's Vineyard before His Passion. The star of the story today is not the matriarch, Martha whose hospitality is proverbial nor their apparently recluse brother, Lazarus.

The star is Mary who performed an outlandish gesture to demonstrate her love for Jesus. She broke a vial of what may be considered the very equivalent of the top line of Pierre Chardin and poured the oozing aromatic liquid on the feet of Jesus and wiped the feet with her long hairs. While some guests criticized this apparent waste, Jesus was very pleased and spoke up for Mary.

Who is Mary? Mary is the sister of Martha and Lazarus. They hail from the village of Bethany a couple of miles from Jerusalem. We want to focus here not on Mary of Bethany but on Mary, a type of female passionate follower of Jesus who is marked by the following characteristics:
#1 Absolute and radical commitment.
#2 Total self-giving.
#3 Deep consecration (set apart) to Jesus and His cause.
Consider the following female saints who fit this profile:

+ Mary of Nazareth, the Mother of the Son.
+ Mary Magdalene, the Apostle to the Apostles.
+ Margaret Mary, the Apostle of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
+ Mary Faustina, the Apostle of Divine Mercy.

We are today in the last week of Lent 2022. Where are you in the Journey of knowing Jesus more intimately so that you can love Him more passionately and serve Him everywhere?

I share below a powerful inspiration I received from the SENDING FORTH Song today at the Mass of the Passion of the LORD at my Parish.

STAY WITH ME,
REMAIN HERE WITH ME,
WATCH AND PRAY,
WATCH AND PRAY.

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com